Number 8 (OLD VERSION)
by Blazerona
Summary: There's a sudden outbreak of strange creatures roaming the land. It's once again up to Sonic and friends to take care of it, but the situation ends up turning into what seems to be more than they can handle. (This is the older version of a Sonic fan fiction that I'm making. Stay tuned for the revised version!)
1. Lost

**Author's Note:**

 **THIS IS GOING TO BE REWRITTEN INTO A MORE PLANNED OUT STORY. STAY TUNED FOR UPDATES.**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Lost**

* * *

Everything in the back of the GUN van moved with each bump and dip in the road, including a bandaged, blue hedgehog and an exhausted, red echidna. The hedgehog had his head in his hands. All of his fighting probably meant nothing at this point; that alone dampened his spirits. He removed one hand to rub his wrist, the wrist with the all-too-familiar claw mark engraved in it. The red echidna realized that he was doing this and a slight worry settled in his throat.

"How you holding up, Sonic?" the echidna asked. The hedgehog named Sonic looked up to the echidna's violet eyes. He saw the concern in them. He adverted his gaze before the guilt could come back to haunt him. Sonic didn't respond until he could regain himself.

"I don't even know anymore."

His friend didn't know how to respond to that. An awkward silence followed. Sonic took deep breaths while rubbing his temples. The red echidna leaned back on the metal bench he was sitting on, deep in thought.

Suddenly, they both felt the van veering to the right. Any loose objects on the floor slid with it. The van gradually slowed to a stop, followed by the clanking of footsteps that could be heard near the front. A door on the furthest wall opened to reveal a black hedgehog with red stripes holding a small, black walkie-talkie. It fizzed and crackled with barely audible sound.

"Sonic, Knuckles, I think you need to hear this."

The both of them leaned in as the black hedgehog held out the walkie-talkie and turned the volume up. They caught what a GUN officer was saying through it. The connection wasn't very good so it occasionally faded in and out.

"..dark creatures...invading...to hold them off...losing infantry. Back-up is mandatory...-ty of remaining citiz-... little to no survivors...not sure where-"

The audio then cut off completely. What followed was a silence louder than any whisper. None of the listeners knew what happened to the speaker.

"Those are the reports from Soleanna," the black hedgehog explained, "I believe those 'dark creatures' are making their way over to our direction."

"You're kidding me," Sonic rubbed his dry, bloodshot eyes.

"Any other towns that were attacked, Shadow?" Knuckles inquired, just as worried as Sonic was.

Shadow paused to recollect his thoughts.

"Station Square...? I think?"

Sonic's eyes shot open. He froze on the spot at the words.

"...S-Station Square?" he stuttered. Shadow replied, "We're not too sure yet. We were sending helicopters to search but they had to stop to back-up the invasion in Soleanna."

"How long will it take to get there?" Sonic rose to two feet and stared into Shadow's eyes with a determined look on his face. Shadow raised a brow at him.

"Are you implying that I'm going to take a complete detour from our escape route?" the black hedgehog challenged. Knuckles stood up and jabbed a finger at Sonic.

"Yeah!" Knuckles joined in, "Why should we do what you say? That's gotten us into plenty of lovely situations so far!"

Sonic took a step back from his censorious companions. "Come on. Isn't it the GUN's job to evacuate people anyway?"

"It shouldn't be up to one unit to do the job though," Shadow argued, folding his arms.

Sonic glanced between Knuckles and Shadow, contemplating ways to entice them.

"Please, Shadow," he plead, "If anyone is capable of getting us there, it's you."

"You're pretty capable, why don't you go there yourself? I have no problem with you leaving."

"You know I can't do this on my own. I need to go there."

"What for?" Knuckles interrogated, becoming suspicious.

"Trust me on this one," Sonic reassured, "If you do this for me, then I owe you one, okay?"

Knuckles watched Shadow ponder the offer. The black hedgehog drummed his fingers on one of his crossed arms, having a slight sneer while thinking.

"Fine. But it better be worth going there," Shadow turned tail and gruffly opened the door to return back to the drivers' seat.

"Thanks pal, you're the best!" Sonic cracked a small smile to him, happy that he agreed.

"I know I am," Shadow responded before closing the door. Knuckles stomped his foot, which resulted in a loud clang.

"What?! I can't believe you'd agree to something so-"

Then his eyes caught Sonic's emerald green ones. The brightness that was in them immediately faded. Now all Knuckles could see was the tension around them. The van started moving again, quickly picking up speed. The blue hedgehog turned his head away and sat down on the metal bench. His head hung more than it should have. The echidna suddenly understood.

He sat himself next to Sonic and took the liberty of leaning back and crossing his legs. He lolled his head over to him. He attempted to make the question he was about to ask as casual as possible.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Sonic lifted his head slightly. He let out a fake chuckle.

"I didn't even know you could think."

Knuckles hit Sonic's arm lightly with the back of his hand.

"Shut up, you know what I mean."

Sonic silently exhaled out of his nose and shook his head.

"Well, Knux, you just might be."

They both sat in silence. Knuckles had a lot of things to say. Now he understood why Sonic was so dead-set on going to Station Square. He wanted to tell him that he shouldn't really worry and that they might be going there for no reason. Yet, Knuckles has known his friend long enough to know that none of those things would matter to the blue hero.

"Look," Sonic began, readjusting his elbows on his knees, "I know you thought about it, too."

Knuckles nodded his head. "Of course I have."

He then directed his attention to the back window. He could see the seemingly endless strip of road disappear into the horizon as they dashed, yellow lines whizzed by them.

"He's only a little kid."


	2. Alone

**Author's Note:**

 **THIS IS GOING TO BE REWRITTEN INTO A MORE PLANNED OUT STORY. STAY TUNED FOR UPDATES.**

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Alone**

* * *

His lungs were being compressed, he couldn't move a single muscle in his body, and his eyes couldn't see anything. One sentence ran through his mind: "Where am I?" He couldn't breathe a single word to call for help. To him, it appeared to be a dream of some sort.

What did he remember? What happened before he ended up here, wherever here is? What time of day was it? What day was it anyway? Was he alone? What was he doing? Why? Maybe this was a dream, a dream he didn't know how to wake up from.

Finally, something shifted in front of him. A rock? A blanket maybe? But now there's light, precious light. Yet, the light seemed littered with dark dust. Dust? Or smoke? The smoke filled his lungs and he spluttered, at last taking a gasp of air. The awful sensation of pain came rushing to his chest. The feeling followed through to the rest of his body. He instantly regretted the rock being moved. He could barely stand how much he hurt. He wished more than anything to be unconscious again. The gift of speech returned to him, giving him a chance to call out.

"Help...me..."

It was barely words, more like a raspy whisper. There was no way someone could hear that, so he put more effort into it.

"Help-"

A painful cough interrupted him; his heaving body was able to push more objects off of his body. Now his left arm could move. His tired eyes slowly looked to his arm to see the many scratches that were behind the dirt and blood stains. His gaze then shifted to his hand. Pieces of work glove that he was wearing was gone. He bent his fingers; that didn't hurt too much. To him, it was actually a relief to move something again. He used his free limb to grab other things on his body and move them off. Rocks, metal, and some wood was most of what held him down. One piece after the next, he gained more freedom. He took frequent breaks because of the amount of pain he was in. If only that pain would wash away, then maybe his task would be easier. But with every movement, the injuries on his body ached and stung. After a while, he could even feel warm liquid gushing down his face. He was so happy that he could feel warmth after sitting in a cold pile of rocks, but then the liquid dripped to his mouth. With both arms and a leg free, he licked his lips to taste his own blood.

Trying his best to ignore this, he took one final effort to push a rather large piece of metal off his last leg. The edge cut one of his exposed fingers, so he brought it up to his mouth to suck on it. After the bleeding ceased, he shoved the metal again. A few more pushes and it gave way, letting his last leg be revealed to the open. The newly uncovered ankle was swollen. He observed it for a moment before attempting to move it. Awful idea; pain shot through it like knives. He concluded that it was probably broken. His first troubled thought dwelled on how he would walk.

At least he was out of the pile. He set his attention to the environment around him. The sky was a light gray and the air smelled of smoke and cinders. Some trees a ways away from him were burnt. Any grass around him was black and crispy as well. Some smoke still rose from some of it; even a few patches of plants were still on fire. He tilted his head down to find himself in a pile of rubble. The contents in that pile were partially coated in his own blood. Pieces of furniture could be spotted here and there. In some corners of the property, there were walls still standing. Any wallpaper that was on it was either torn off or burnt off. Some of the remains he could even recognize: a refrigerator, a kitchen table, a couch, and a small stove. It wasn't until he looked behind himself that he finally knew where he was.

"The Tornado?!"

A red bi-plane lay just beside him, leaning on its right wing. The other one was crushed by a large piece of ceiling. Bits and pieces of the wing were scattered, even one piece of the wing used to be on top of him until he moved it. The interior seats were burnt to almost nothing. The control panel in front of the seat had its wires exposed. The front propeller had two of its blades snapped in two. The rest of the plane was covered in rubble and ash. The damage was unbelievable to his eyes, he couldn't even think about fixing it now, not at this time, not in this condition, not in this place.

What was he to do? Where was everyone else? And what caused all of the destruction? If his bi-plane was there, that meant he was sitting in the remains of his own home. Where was he going to live? Where was he going to go?

Was he...

alone?

No. he was not alone. He had his bi-plane. In a sense, it was one of his friends. It has been there on many of his adventures after all. Slowly and with all his energy, he used his arms and hands to force himself on two. His broken, right ankle wasn't helping too much, so he had to put all of his weight on his left leg. That leg hurt a lot less. One step at a time, he traversed his way over the debris and limped over to his beloved bi-plane. At long last, he was able to lean his body on the remains of the structure.

Yes, he couldn't fix it at that moment, but he would as soon as he could. He leaned his head against it and breathed deeply. All of his hope was gone. It probably burned up to ashes like everything else he owned. It almost brought tears to his eyes.

"No," he commanded to himself. It was not the time to be weak. There wasn't a hero there to save him this time. He had to be his own hero. He believed that he could just think his way out of the situation like he always does. It worked plenty of times before, it will work again.

He stood up straight with reborn confidence. He gave the plane one last look. He gave himself some reassurance before turning away from it. Then one step after another, he lead himself off the remains of his house, past the burnt grass, and into the dark forest.


	3. Delay

**Author's Note:**

 **THIS IS GOING TO BE REWRITTEN INTO A MORE PLANNED OUT STORY. STAY TUNED FOR UPDATES. I am uploading the rest of what I wrote for entertainment purposes while I work on the new version**

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Delay**

* * *

"Ow!"

A soft kick hit the side of Sonic's stomach. He was immediately woken up from his slumber. He shot a glance at his disturber to see Knuckles towering over him.

"Sonic! Get up!" he ordered, making the hedgehog even angrier than he already was.

"What?! What was _so_ important that you had to kick me?!"

"Shadow is-"

A dark voice yelled in pain as the two heard an object hit the side of the van, causing it to rock slightly. Gargled groans and roars filled the background. Knuckles and Sonic remembered hearing them before. Sonic threw himself up and looked to Knuckles for answers.

"What is going on?!"

"Those monsters blocked the road on the way to Station Square!"

"WHAT?!"

"And Shadow is-"

"WHERE'S SHADOW?!"

"HE'S OUT THERE FIGHTING THEM!"

Sonic's eyes widened in shock. That yell he heard before was Shadow's and he probably wasn't doing so well all by himself.

Sonic quickly ripped the bandages he had off his arms and legs. The blood stained cloth fell to the hard, metal floor near his feet. Dark red scabs were left behind. Sonic rolled his shoulders and was pleased to find out that he could move better.

"Come on!" is all Knuckles heard before he saw a blue blur bursting the back door open and launching toward nearby enemies. Knuckles didn't hesitate to follow him and start pounding the creatures using his fists and vast amount of strength.

The creatures they were fighting came in many shapes and sizes. They barely had faces since they were so grotesque. Most had claws, wings, and sharp teeth. Their colors ranged from red, to a light blue, dark purple, and black. Purple aura emanated from most of them. Their cries were of nothing they ever heard of before. They sounded almost like they were screeching in pain, even though their cries usually meant that they wanted to kill and dig their claws into flesh. All of their eyes glowed bright purple. The crowd of hundreds of these monsters almost looked like a group of small, purple stars. One of the monsters alone was intimidating enough, having them in groups made them almost impossible to face alone.

But the three warriors fought them with whatever energy they had left.

Knuckles was not always quick on his feet, but he was still fast enough to dodge and weave any direct attack by the creatures. His strength proved a great advantage, knocking enemies down was a cinch to him. Every time one of the creatures was defeated, they lost all structural integrity and vanished in a black smoke. It was almost as if these things were barely alive at all. Even though the numbers kept surrounding Knuckles in a circle, he was still able to hold his own. His endurance was incredible.

Sonic, on the other hand, where he lacked in strength he more than made up for in speed. He was the fastest out of all of them, and for this reason went by many nicknames. The blue blur, the speed demon, the fastest thing alive, and many more. Even his normal name, Sonic, meant something regarding his speed. Such incredible speed didn't even give the creatures time to think before they were smashed out of existence. Sonic used mostly his homing attacks to get the job done. This wasn't the only combat move he used though. He was more than capable of kicking anything near him as well. If it involved Sonic's feet, he was good at it. Period.

Shadow was strong as well, but in different ways. He was quicker than Knuckles, but slower than Sonic. He is mostly talented at using Chaos Attacks. The attacks are part of the Chaos power granted to him at birth. The world that they live in is full of Chaos energy. He gains his strength from that energy. Spears and explosions made from Chaos Energy could appear from a simple snap of his fingers or a wave of his hand. He wore rocket shoes also powered by Chaos Energy that granted him smooth movement. His combat skills were also a great asset to him as well. These attributes wouldn't mean nearly as much if it weren't for how clever he was. Knuckles and Sonic don't think too much when they fight; Shadow has thoughts running in and out of his mind all the time. He can learn his enemy and use both their strengths and weaknesses against them. His weakness is having to fight in great numbers and for extended periods of time. He wasn't always very good at preserving his Chaos Energy and it's hard for him to focus on more than one target at a time. That is why he wasn't doing very well by himself when Knuckles and Sonic weren't there to help him. His endurance lacked more than Sonic's, making long fights hard for him. The fight wasn't nearly half over and he already started panting and sweating profusely.

"Sonic!" Shadow yelled while wrestling with a dark creature taller than him. Sonic stopped in his tracks and zipped toward him. Before he reached them, he curled into a ball and went straight through the creature that was on Shadow. It doubled over and disappeared. None of them were out of woods yet. Only more of the monsters surrounded them. Sonic turned his back to Shadow's back so they could both keep an eye on both halves of the crowd. The monsters just charged toward them, sacraficing their lives to wipe the two hedgehogs out.

"This is fun, eh?" Sonic joked while slamming his right foot on a smaller monster. Shadow rolled his eyes while punching another one.

"Sonic..." he panted while he spoke, "You're an idiot."

"Gee, thanks." the blue hedgehog sarcastically retorted.

Neither of them liked the idea of working with each other, but they had no choice. Like they always do, Shadow and Sonic somehow ended up finding each other when crap hit the fan in their world. Knuckles was no different, but his involvement was more voluntary. The Master Emerald, the one thing he protects, went missing. He went to find Sonic since he blames everything on him. Recently, he discovered that Sonic doesn't know anything about its disappearance, so he agreed to tag along with him. He was questioning why he made this choice later on. His temper was running very short as he realized that these beasts weren't decreasing nearly as fast enough. He thought that there should be few enough for the GUN van to drive through them. Sonic was doing alright as far as energy. One wrong step to the right caused a claw to be ripped across his snout. Sonic fell to the ground and gripped his jaw. Blood seeped through the cloth of his gloves as he felt the deep grooves now present in his right cheek. Shadow was quick to step in front of him to cover him from further harm. He too saw that this fight appeared to have no near end.

"Knuckles! Sonic!" he yelled, breathless, "There's enough room now! Get in the van!"

Knuckles heard his order and made his way back to the back door of the GUN van. Shadow bent down to Sonic and pulled his free arm and forced him on his feet.

"Did you hear me?!" Shadow barked, "Go!"

Sonic finally regained his senses and let go of his snout. In a flash, he dashed back to the van and went inside. Shadow smashed a few more monsters before finally charging through them to get to the driver's side door. He ripped it open, hopped inside, and started it up. With a screech of the tires and the roar of the engine, he tore through part of the crowd and ran them over. Driving as fast as he could, he escaped the hoard of monsters with the truck and his allies. Their destination was set back on Station Square.

"Damnit, Sonic!" Shadow angrily grumbled to himself, "Why do I agree to your stupid ideas?!" he wiped the blood and sweat from his forehead and continued down the road at speeds around seventy miles per hour. He could see the crowd of remaining creatures getting smaller and smaller in the rear view mirror.

Meanwhile, Sonic and Knuckles were attempting to recover from such an energy draining battle. Knuckles wasn't as tired as Sonic was, nor as injured. His ability to dodge direct attacks made Knuckles less likely to get hit. To think with Sonic's speed, he wouldn't get hit much either, but lack of room and ability to move made him vulnerable. That was why he was now attempting to stop his snout from bleeding.

"Sonic? You alright?" Knuckles asked. This was mostly because he was wondering why the hedgehog was sitting down on the bench and bent over holding his face. Sonic lifted his head up then removed his red-stained glove.

"Yeah, why?" he responded. The red echidna's concern metamorphosed into disgust. He was transfixed on the deep cuts on Sonic's face.

"Holy cow! What got you?!" gasped Knuckles, leaning in for a closer look.

"I made a wrong move, no big deal!" Sonic tried his very best to shrug it off, even though it hurt just to talk.

Knuckles' voice raised, "No big deal?! Why don't you try looking at yourself?!"

The blue hedgehog tried to do as he said and looked around to see if he could use something to his his reflection with. He turned down and to his left at the metal bench he was sitting on. It only showed a slight silhouette of him, but it showed just enough detail so he could see the damage. Large amounts of skin was taken off, the three claw marks on his face must have been at least a quarter of an inch deep. This injury wasn't like other ones; the blood oozing out of his was a darker red. Even as he looked at himself, drops of blood from it hit the metal bench, obscuring some of the reflection of himself. Sonic could feel a small gurgling in his stomach and his face went slightly pale. He couldn't bear to look at it any longer. He shut his eyes and broke eye contact with his reflection then set his eyes back on Knuckles.

"Is there anything in here I can use to cover it with?" he asked him, worried that it might bleed to much. Knuckles turned his back to him and looked around the almost empty compartment. After a few second of finding nothing but an empty box of gun ammo and a few bullet shells, he turned back to Sonic and said, "I'll ask Shadow."

Sonic nodded as the echidna went to the door leading to the passenger compartment and opening it. He could see the black hedgehog in the driver's seat, still a little bit out of breath and focused on the road ahead.

"Shadow, Sonic has a nasty cut on his face, do you have any towels or something?"

Shadow's eyes wavered from the road for only a second to look at who was at the door. He set his attention back on it then used his left hand to dig underneath the seat he was sitting in. After a few moments of Knuckles waiting, Shadow pulled out a small box with a red cross on it and blindly reached back to hand it to Knuckles.

"There's some disinfection cream and bandages in there," he informed the echidna, "be sure he puts a clean pad between the bandage and the cut this time."

Knuckles thanked him as he took it and closed the door. He slowly walked back to Sonic so he didn't trip while the van was moving.

"Shadow said to put a pad on your cuts this time," Knuckles tossed the kit onto Sonic's lap. The hedgehog took hold of it and opened it to see the contents inside. It was everything he needed. Sonic was about to start treating himself until he realized it was going to be hard to do without a mirror. A dim reflection on the metal bench wasn't going to be enough either. As dumb as it sounded, he was going to have to have someone else to do it.

"Hey, Knux?" he asked. Knuckles was sitting on the ground and against the wall across from him, he didn't even look at the hedgehog as he replied, "Yeah?"

Sonic was slightly sheepish about it, but if he didn't pop the question then the dressing of his wound would never get done. With a sigh, he said, "Can you do it for me?"

Knuckles made eye contact with Sonic. It was the last thing he expected to hear since he knows Sonic likes doing things by himself.

"Are you kidding me?" Knuckles scoffed, scowling at him.

"C'mon, I can't do it. And it's only going to bleed more."

The echidna stopped and dwelled on it. He knew now, out of all the times he saw Sonic injured, that he couldn't be heartless. Sure, he doesn't really like the guy that much, but he couldn't help but feel bad for him. One of their best friends was probably trapped in Station Square, maybe dead, maybe alive, and Sonic's already endured more than enough wounds in means to find him. Sonic asking him to wrap up this cut was most likely the most selfish thing he asked all day. So with a little thought, Knuckles agreed.

"Alright, give it here."

Sonic gave a toothy smile and handed the open first aid box to him. Knuckles pulled off his boxing gloves and set them down next to him. He used his bare hands to grab one of the pads and started haphazardly squirting disinfecting cream on it.

"It's great to have some buddies around at a time like this, huh?" Sonic teased, referring to how much Knuckles prefers to work in solitude.

"Yeah, yeah. Shut up and keep still," Knuckles grumbled and slapped the pad on Sonic's face a bit more forcefully than he should have. A short hiss came from between Sonic's teeth as the cream slowly took effect.

Shadow was still driving down the road. He was mindful of the amount of dark creatures he saw along the way. A few trees were trees were scattered through the sides of the road, some of them were burnt. The amount of burnt forest life multiplied the more he drove on. Every now and then, he would see a loose creature walking around by itself. The closer he got to the town of Station Square, the more destroyed everything looked.

Yet, the damage he witnessed so far wasn't nearly as bad as what he saw as he entered the city limits.

"Oh my god..."


	4. Found

**Author's Note:**

 **THIS IS GOING TO BE REWRITTEN INTO A MORE PLANNED OUT STORY. STAY TUNED FOR UPDATES. I am uploading the rest of what I wrote for entertainment purposes while I work on the new version**

* * *

 **Chapter 4: Found**

* * *

What did he ever do to have to endure such a treacherous and difficult feat? He couldn't have been the only survivor in the entire town! Where were the authorities? Where was GUN? All of his aching bones, cuts, splinters, bruises, and seeping blood could do him in. What was worse was that there weren't even fellow survivors there to help him. Shuffling through the almost-deserted city was tiring enough; his broken ankle didn't need to add to it.

Mostly what was making the venturing through the streets difficult were the obstacles he had to find his way around. Fallen buildings left cement, asphalt, and wood astray. Lampposts have toppled over, leaving shattered glass all around them from the light bulbs. Electrical wires were stringed along the ground, trash was being blown by the empty and hollow breezes, and even the fire hydrants were broken out of place leaving the pipes to spray water out of it. He approached one of these hydrants and stood under the fountain of water. Mist and rain sprinkled on his fur, washing away the blood and dirt that was matted in it. Taking a deep breath, he tilted his head back and opened his mouth, letting what few drops he caught refresh his dry mouth. This only made him thirsty for more. He forced himself to walk further toward the hydrant. Once he was close enough, he removed his torn work gloves and placed his hands in the vertical stream of water.

It felt so wonderful after sweating for hours under the afternoon sun. This lucky encounter with water made all of those miles worth it. He washed himself, drank, and splashed his face. The freezing cold water excited his senses. What a well-earned relief from a sudden hardship.

Survival has been on his mind for the length of time it's been since he recovered from unconsciousness. He hasn't been concerned with matters like the events that happened prior that could have led to such a horrible catastrophe. He thought that perhaps when he was done taking care of himself, he can figure out exactly what could have caused the once bustling city to become war torn and abandoned. Mystery lingered in his surroundings. Yet, there was already too much on his mind. The more simple the situation, the better. After his fill, he sat down next to the hydrant to rest once again. He examined his damaged right ankle to see that it has swelled even more. He knew that in survival, priority one is water, the second one is shelter. He drank plenty of water. There were most likely many homes and businesses that were left behind in the wreckage. Maybe there were non-perishable foods inside of them too. He didn't know how long he was going to be alone. Better safe than sorry.

It was then he decided to establish his shelter near the hydrant. It was most likely not going to be repaired and time soon, so he had a source for the time being. Almost as soon as he sat down, he stood back up again, with effort of course, and limped to the nearest building. He had to step over an unattached car bumper on the way there. He took his most uninjured hand and grabbed the front door handle with it. He pulled; nothing. He pushed; nothing. He shook the door more before coming to the conclusion that it was locked. With a groan, he dragged his weight to the building to the right. It almost felt like he traveled back in time because the same thing happened. He tried to walk to the next door. Each step on the right leg was shorter than a step on the other. He tried so hard not to put pressure on his injured ankle. He tripped from the effort. Over what? His own two clumsy feet. Maybe one of his two tails got in the way. He was sprawled on the ground in helpless pain. A sharp burn from his left knee meant he scraped it on the rough sidewalk cement.

What a pain. Yes, he was tired. Yes, he was hungry. Yes, he was in the most terrible of pain. But he had to survive. It was not just himself he was worried about. He knew people; he had friends. A leg and a wrist twitched as he winced. His right arm helplessly scrambled for a imaginary object to grab on. A banch? A rail? A kind, helping hand? No. He could only help himself. But he was doing an awful job so far. What use is he if he was on the ground like a dog that was ran over by a stampede of semi-trucks? Without the ability to move, he would surely die. As if that fact wasn't already gut-wrenching enough, the scratches on his left arm were bleeding profusely once again. His right cheek rested on the burning ground while helplessly watching more and more streams of red trail down his elbow and forearm. Each line of blood raced to see which could make him die faster. His sky blue eyes stared endlessly at the crimson scratches with a completely blank expression. Why was he strangely comfortable with the fact of dying?

A distance behind him was an echoed scream of terror.

His eyes blinked once as his ears perked. That was a woman screaming. That meant someone else was alive. Barely. Someone else. Someone else! That alone made adrenaline pump through his aching limbs. If only he could get up, he could go meet them. Slowly, and with a lot of tolerance to hold in a yell of pain, he planted his right fist to the ground and a left forearm to help. He turned over on his back, shifting was felt like a bruised rib. Then his back muscles pulled him up. Good thing he was able to at least sit up. His gaze wandered to a fresh blood puddle on the ground before looking to his left. Just about 1000 meters away was a crashed automobile and a pool of oil underneath it. Another shreak sounded before its source emerged from the other side of the vehicle. She was a young woman with ebony hair. Her thin, summer clothes were filthy with soot. What caught his attention the most was the fear in her eyes. She was stepping away from something he couldn't see. Even further away, he heard an unreal growl from something he was not familiar with. The woman heard this too and ran the opposite direction when she did. Shortly after, a ghastly creature followed that ran on all fours. This beast was mostly black with dark blue highlights and red vien patterns along its limbs. Its oversized head had teeth that were bloody. It gnashed them like an animal would. That only meant it killed something before.

The woman was smart to run, but the observer of the chase felt guilty that he couldn't help. But he was so confused as to what the monster even was. Its horrifying appearance was something he has never seen before (and he has seen some pretty crazy things). The woman was just as confused as he was since her frantic retreat was without an objective. Twice the legs on the god forsaken beast meant twice the intimidating speed. Also, the woman was in sandals. That didn't serve well for running. Her short legs scrambled across the pavement while the monster decreased the distance between the both of them with each step. She attempted to take cover behind a building before the beast got too close. Since he was the only spectator, he was the one who exclaimed a vociferous warning.

"LOOK OUT!"

To no avail, though. Once her head swiveled to the threat and her eyes met the gaping mouth, the beast was already on top of her. Sheering screams of pain filled the city streets. He has already seen enough blood, seeing about a liter more spray out of the hodgepodge of mangled bodies added to his stomach ache. He saw flesh fly with it. From a thousand meters away, he could see flesh. In disgust and fear, he attempted to back away while still sitting down. The broken ankle violently refused and it made him yelp in agony. For a moment, everything felt still.

But that was only because the monster paused the feasting of his fresh meal. It's bright, purple eyes stared soullessly into the innocent stand-by's. He bit his lip, trying to stay as still as possible. Maybe it will go away.

Instead, it charged at him. Its lungs heaved as its legs pumped toward its new victim. He couldn't do anything. He was hurt and nowhere near in the shape for running. Using his quick wits, he looked around himself for something he could use to defend with. Except there wasn't anything but a fallen lamppost some five meters away. So he leaned on his back and lifted his left leg. He then clenched his fists to prepare. For what? Well, he wasn't giving up without a fight.

That animal was out for blood, maybe even guts. But he made sure it didn't get it as he planted his foot into its stomach. As the beast spluttered and faltered, he pushed his body further away from the threat. The monster raised its veiny head and set its sights back on him. Again, it launched onto his already bloody body. The powerful paws and claws thrashed and pushed onto the victim's arms that attempted to defend their owner. Teeth and claws still managed to tear through his skin. The new cuts burned with fresh intensity. Now more blood could drip onto his face. Bleeding more was the last thing he needed. He was bound to pass out and he knew losing more than two liters of blood was the dead zone. Who knew how much he lost already? The wrestle dragged on with the beast. He fought before in the past, so he had experience. But in this condition, he may not live for much longer. Him winning this battle wasn't guaranteed. Yet, dying didn't feel like an option anymore.

He had to be his own hero. Just like his best friends.

Right there and then was when it came rushing back to him. The memories of the people he cared for; old faces returned to him. All of them were warm and familiar. This is why he fought. It was for them. If he left, they would surely miss him.

But this one creature was more than willing to take that away from him. The relationships he built would be torn. If the strength of his heart and mind matched the strength of his body, then he would smash this monster no problem. Reality and dreams are entirely detached from each other though. Ergo, this meant here and now is when he will be brutally murdered.

SMASH! Quicker than a blink, the violent abomination was shoved off of his body. He let his limbs fall limp to the ground. He was just thankful it was over and that he was alive. While laying there, it was only then he realized that he wasn't the one who did the shoving.

"Tails?"

A deep voice rang through his mind. His vision was now strangely darker and his field of vision narrowed. A rough hand reached under his back and helped him up as he looked dizzyingly to a worried face.

"Are you okay?! Tails!"

His vision only became darker. Two violet eyes were the only things he could focus on.

"Come on! Stay with me!"

The voice was muffled. How strangely familiar it was. Then he felt a hand on his chest. It was a white boxing glove.

...Knuckles?

That was the last thing he thought before his consciousness succumbed to blood loss.


	5. Search

**Author's Note:**

 **THIS IS GOING TO BE REWRITTEN INTO A MORE PLANNED OUT STORY. STAY TUNED FOR UPDATES. I am uploading the rest of what I wrote for entertainment purposes while I work on the new version**

* * *

 **Chapter 5: Search**

* * *

"...No..."

Sonic was staring at the charred remains of what was once his best friends' house. All of what he once knew about visiting that homely place was burnt to almost nothing. The hedgehog just hoped his friends' fate wasn't the same.

His red sneakers tip-toed their way over the debris. Ash plumed up from underneath his soles. Sonic's emerald eyes darted to every blackened object he could see. A couch. He recalled sleeping overnight on that couch many times. An entertainment center. That was probably still full of video games and movies he's popped into a gaming system. A bed. Probably one his dear friend once slept in. Through all of the blue hedgehog's frantic searching, not one body was found. He didn't know if this was good or bad. Being the optimistic person he is, he clamped on tightly to the smallest shred of hope that his friend could possibly be alive. But he couldn't relax until he found him. He couldn't relax until he knew that all of the people that were dear to him were alright. The owner of this detroyed house was only one of them. And he might not have found him at that time, but he did find something else.

"The Tornado..."

Whatever was left of the red bi-plane was definitely not in good shape. Stray parts of the vehicle were strewn all around a framework of metal that he guessed were the wings. Now the subtle memories of riding that bi-plane seemed so distant. A heavy weight pressed on Sonic's chest. All the colorful happiness of those flashbacks was sucked out. Now all that was left was the bitter reminder of what could have been if this disaster never happened. The pain deepened as he stroked his blood-stained glove on the plane's hull. His finger gently traced the two-tailed insignia.

 _I should have been there to help, buddy. I'm sorry._

His apology meant nothing since there was no one to hear it.

"So this is why we came?"

Sonic's head whipped back to a pair of folded arms and two crimson eyes staring at him with judgment. Sonic closed his eyes, dipped his head, and sighed.

"I told you to wait for me, Shadow."

Shadow let his arms fall when he traversed his way over the charred obstacles. He lept over a large pile of rubble to stand next to his blue ally. His eyes carefully scanned the destroyed bi-plane.

"Your fox friend must mean more to you than I assumed," Shadow said, noticing the bulky bandage currently on the blue hedgehog's face. Sonic swallowed hard with his eyes still trained on the plane.

"yeah," replied the absent-minded Sonic. He was focused on his worry for the plane's owner. He wanted to find him and all his other missing friends before he did anything else. That's his priority.

"If it'll help you feel better," Shadow cut into Sonic's thoughts, "We can look for clues to see if he was here when it was on fire."

Sonic's ears perked and he lifted his head to Shadow. He was surprised that Shadow actually cared about how he felt. Shouldn't he be telling him to stop being a baby or something? The black hedgehog took notice of his astonishment and corrected himself immediately, "Not that I care either way."

Sonic let out a short chuckle and he removed his hand from the Tornado.

"That's a great idea."

So the two of them went to work moving and shuffling scrap around. Neither of them really knew what they were looking for, maybe something out of the ordinary? Sonic thought he could look for stray fur or anything along those lines. Shadow, on the other hand, started looking for tracks, marks, or even torn clothes. He thought he could pick up a trail if he looked carefully enough. Maybe Tails wasn't even there when the fire started. Or he was and he escaped. Perhaps he was evacuated like everyone else in Station Square. The absence of a body told Shadow that it was highly unlikely that the fox was dead. And if he was, he would've died somewhere else. Tails was never that close to Shadow anyway, so he had a level head during the entire search. It was Sonic that was evincing panic through the way he shoved aside burnt objects. Uncovering more and more charred belongings of his friend just made the queasiness of his stomach grow. Shadow was standing where to kitchen used to be when he called to Sonic, who was combing through Tails' bedroom.

"Calm down."

But how could he? Whenever Sonic went on some sort of adventure or oddessy, his twin-tailed friend was always by his side. Sonic always thought that Tails depended on him. Sonic was always the older one and the better fighter. Tails looked up to him. Yet, grabbing a lonely glove out from under a black blanket gave him second thoughts. Pieces of the charred cloth crumbled in his fingers. The glove was smaller than his own. Tails was barely half Sonic's age, after all. Maybe it was Tails' age that made the hedgehog feel so protective of him. But Tails could fight and has handled himself before. Tails couldn't possibly be the one who depended on Sonic... Could he...?

"Sonic, look!"

His head shot up so quick that felt a muscle twinge in his neck. He looked directly to Shadow, who was standing near the pile of rubble that resided next to the next to the Tornado. The black hedgehog gestured Sonic over with his head. His hands rested impatiently on his hips. Sonic was quick to drop the glove and use his speed to rush over to where Shadow was. Shadow didn't waste any time in showing Sonic his find, which was what was on the pile of rubble. Sonic's full attention was directed to the discovery and his blue quills slightly bristled.

Deep, red, crusty blood was spilt all over the bricks and dry wall. The stain showed that it had time to creep in the small cracks of the material and seep on the ash below. A piece of the Tornado's wing was off to the side. That meant Shadow had to remove it to reveal the mess.

Sonic's heart rate quickened. He didn't want to believe that it was Tails' blood because that meant he was hurt. He can't be hurt. How can he defend himself with all of those black monsters prowling around Station Square? Whatever injury produced that much blood would make it impossible for him to run. But what if he was eaten and the body just wasn't there anymore? Do those monsters even eat people anyway? Sonic's head was spinning and his nausea worsened. Shadow, however, was still observing his find. His hand rested on his mouth and the other supported his elbow. His eyes narrowed in thought.

"This was recent," he concluded. This statement was acknowledged by Sonic, which set him on edge. He turned to Shadow and spoke with worry in his voice, frantic for answers.

"So where is he?"

Shadow held his hand out him, gesturing him to relax, "I'm not sure," he answered. That made Sonic raise his voice.

"Whadaya mean you're not sure?! You found his blood!"

"But I haven't found a trail, idiot! If there's a trail, then we can follow it and maybe find Tails. If this is even his blood."

Sonic groaned and stomped his foot. He leaned his head back to look to the gray sky.

"Fine, let's just pick up the pace, okay?" the blue hedgehog urged to Shadow, who rolled his eyes and said nothing. He kneeled down on one knee and carefully observed the stray drops of blood to see which one may lead to a trail. Sonic remained where he was and scanned his eyes over the splashes of blood again. Something inside him, perhaps something childish, told him that Tails really isn't hurt and he's probably looking for Sonic right now. At least that is what he hoped. Whether or not it was true, Sonic had to do all he could to find him.


	6. Savior

**Author's Note:**

 **THIS IS GOING TO BE REWRITTEN INTO A MORE PLANNED OUT STORY. STAY TUNED FOR UPDATES. I am uploading the rest of what I wrote for entertainment purposes while I work on the new version**

* * *

 **Chapter 6: Savior**

* * *

Knuckles was better friends with Tails than with Sonic and it clearly showed.

The guardian was completely fine with sharing his spare bandages with the two-tailed fox. Both of them took refuge near the spraying fire hydrant that Tails discovered before. A majority of their reunion involved Knuckles cleaning and dressing the fox's wounds. The red echidna was sure to remove his boxing gloves so he could do it with care. All the while, Tails relayed the trials he's endured since he awoke in his burnt home.

"Geez, Tails," Knuckles comforted after the fox finished explained himself, "I'm really sorry, man."

Tails smiled for the first time in a while.

"It's not your fault. I'm just glad you were there to save me."

Knuckles looked sheepishly off to the side and smiled back nervously. He didn't want to seem like he was soft or anything. He just helped Tails because they were friends, that's all. Tails just so happened to acknowledge his discomfort, so he ceased talking until Knuckles finished his work.

The last thing he had to patch up was Tails' broken ankle. He knew that wasn't going to be fun.

"I have to feel it first," he warned Tails, who nodded in understanding. The echidna grasped Tails' right shoe and gently removed it. Tails squeezed his eyes shut and hissed. Knuckles mumbled a short apology while taking off his sock. He tossed both aside and softly pressed his finger tips to the injured ankle. His brow lowered and he said, "I thought you said it was broken."

Tails lifted his head from his laying down position.

"It felt like it was when I was walking," he replied, watching Knuckles feel around the ankle more. The red echidna's head shook side to side.

"Walking?" he said with new understanding, "If it was broken, you couldn't have walked. You definitely sprained it. It should be fine in a few days."

Tails exhaled, feeling relieved. A broken ankle would've meant months of recovery and he didn't know if he really had that time. He didn't even know what kind of situation they were in. Knuckles was going to have to give him some much needed information.

Knuckles' bulky fingers were occupied with wrapping Tails' swollen ankle. The nimble and precise movements of his hands showed practice. For a big, tough guy that always wants to pick a fight, he sure was being gentle. They're both close friends, so Tails knew he would get accurate information from him.

"So..." he began, finding his words, "...what's your side of the story?"

The red echidna remained focused on his work, but he did take the time to respond to Tails. He didn't go into as much detail as the fox did.

"I'm actually with Sonic and Shadow right now. We were going to go through an escape route through Spagonia, but we wanted to come here."

Tails wanted a ton more detail than that, especially since Shadow and Sonic are in this situation too.

"Why, though?" he inquired.

Knuckles looked at him with a quizzical look on his face, almost like Tails should know the answer already. He told him what it was anyway.

"For you, obviously."

The only thing the fox was surprised at was the fact that he didn't feel surprised.

"Let me guess..." Tails began with frustration in his voice. Knuckles knew exactly where he was going with this, so they ended up saying the name at the same time.

"Sonic."

Tails sighed and Knuckles shrugged one shoulder and returned to wrapping the injury.

"You know how he is," the echidna commented casually. The funny thing was that Tails knew exactly how Sonic could be. It was in always in the blue hedgehog's best interest to throw logic and reason out the window for a friend. It was touching, but at the same time reckless. After a moment of silence, Knuckles clipped the gauze with a metal pin so it wouldn't move. He leaned back from his cross-legged position to examine his work.

"That should do it," he declared to the fox. Tails examined his ankle to see it properly wrapped and secured.

"Can I walk?" he asked.

"I dunno," Knuckles replied, "Can you?"

Tails wanted to try. He wanted to be as little of a burden as possible. He tried to prop himself up on his own at first. Knuckles just finished putting his boxing gloves back on when he saw that he needed assistance. The echidna reached a hand out to him and Tails took it to help himself up on two. Tails' legs wobbled like a newborn fawn until Knuckles steadied him. The fox waved his hand at him, indicating that he didn't want any more help. The moment he put weight on his foot, he winced pulled it back up. That caused him to fall over backwards. Knuckles was quick to rush to his side.

"You okay?" he inquired, slightly concerned. The fox's twin tails swished on the ground impatiently.

"This is going to be difficult, isn't it?" Tails said, disgruntled. He let his head tilt back to the sky.

"I'm sorry I'm so pathetic," he continued.

"Oh quit it," Knuckles sternly said, "Here, let me help."

He proceeded to put one hand under the crook of Tail's knees and the other on his back. With little effort, Knuckles lifted Tails off of the ground. Tails was shocked at this.

"No, no, don't, Knuckles-" Tails squirmed slightly, feeling self-conscious of the fact that he was being carried.

"Tails," the red echidna chuckled, "You're eight. No one is going to judge you."

Tails' face started to blush slightly from shame.

"But won't you get tired?" he asked, worried. Knuckles cocked his head to the side.

"I can handle it," he answered. He was seemingly unconcerned about it all. To him, the fox weighed almost nothing. He didn't think he would be getting tired any time soon.

"Don't forget my other shoe," Tails mentioned and pointed to the previously removed shoe that was on the ground. Knuckles didn't have any hands to spare, so he knelt to the ground to have Tails pick it up with the sock. After looking briefly around him to make sure he hasn't forgotten anything else, Knuckles started walking down the street.

He stepped over the debris while carrying the fox the whole way. Knuckles cleared the destroyed city blocks much faster than Tails managed to before. This reminded him how nice it could be to have someone to help out. And the echidna was making sure to be of great aid by treading the terrain with care and keeping an eye out for more of those black monsters. It was a good thing that he was scouting the right area to be able to save his friend. It felt like the first stroke of good luck since the whole ordeal started. With this new optimism, Knuckles continued to travel through the abandoned streets of Station Square. He could feel two tails brush against his legs on occasion. He almost forgot how long they were sometimes.

"Where are we going?" Tails asked after a while. It was amazing that he didn't ask earlier. Perhaps he just trusted Knuckles enough to know that he was being brought somewhere safe.

"Back to the GUN van. Shadow's there."

Tails nodded. He put some length between the first question and the one he was about to ask.

"What about Sonic?"

Knuckles held Tails more securely before skipping over a long, torn up bicycle rack entangled with the twisted metal of its parkers.

He loosened up again and continued to say, "He went looking for you."

"Where?"

"At your house."

Tails' face tensed, "But it's burnt to the ground!"

"I know, you told me. And I'm sure he isn't going to be too happy about it."

Tails fiddled with his shoe, examining the scratches and burn marks on it.

He murmured, "If only I could tell him I'm okay..."

"We'll be able to tell him all about it soon."

Knuckles rolled his eyes. Even thinking about that blue nightmare just rubbed him the wrong way.

"He's being a huge baby about it, if you ask me."

Tails removed his hand and looked at Knuckles, looking even more fretful than before.

"Really?" he sounded distressed.

"Yeah," Knuckles' tone of voice indicated that he was trying to belittle Sonic's feelings, "He practically begged Shadow to come here the moment he found out this place was attacked. We got mauled by a whole hoard of those _things_ on the way here, but Sonic just told us to keep going. The whole time, he was just a nervous wreck. And he calls himself brave! He tried to hide it, but _man_ is he bad at it."

Between a pause, Knuckles stopped to look at Tails' face. He looked so upset and guilty at the same time. Knuckles nearly kicked himself. How stupid he felt, spilling all the horrible details like that. He caught his tongue and chose to word everything else differently.

"...But I told him I would help. He seemed happier when I did. He told me to search the city. So that's how I found you."

The young fox relaxed slightly. The fact that his best friend was okay in the first place made him calmer. He knew Knuckles may not know everything about what was going on, so a better person to ask would be Shadow. At least Shadow's side of the story wasn't overshadowed with bias of another person.

The two mobians travelled approximately 20 blocks when the sun started to set over the smoke-filled horizon. There were no streetlights to light the way except for the lucky few that were able to remain operable. Thankfully for Knuckles, he was still able to see. Tails wasn't tired yet. He honestly didn't want to sleep until he was able to talk to Shadow and Sonic.

Before he forgot, though, Tails decided to bring up one more thing to his red friend.

"Knuckles?" he quietly said. He was close to him, so he didn't want to speak to loud.

"Hm?" Knuckles grunted, not paying attention all that well.

Tails was hesitant at first, but gave in to his own persuasion.

"Thanks."

The red echidna didn't stop walking forward. Yet, he couldn't find it in his heart not to take the time to turn to his friend and give a warm smile.


	7. Reunion

**Author's Note:**

 **THIS IS GOING TO BE REWRITTEN INTO A MORE PLANNED OUT STORY. STAY TUNED FOR UPDATES. I am uploading the rest of what I wrote for entertainment purposes while I work on the new version**

* * *

 **Chapter 7: Reunion**

* * *

CLANG!

"Hey! That's GUN property you're kicking!"

The blue hedgehog shot a death glare at Shadow. His blood was boiling so hot, he didn't even care what Shadow thought at this point. He just kicked the GUN van's bumper again. This kick put a long scratch in it. Shadow turned from his hand radio to condemn Sonic's actions.

"If you want me to continue helping you, you better stop acting like a child."

Sonic let out an exasperated groan and decided to kick the dirt instead. They were about a mile away from Tails' destroyed house. This is where Shadow chose to park since he thought dark monsters would be swarming it. Thankfully, that was not the case. The two were only left there to be bored and helpless, Sonic especially. He felt so frustrated that they were just standing there. He wanted to find Tails as soon as possible. The sun was disappearing behind the horizon, making the sky turn into a deep orange. _Too bad stupid Shadow lost the trail_ , he thought to himself. He picked up a rock and chucked it at a nearby stop-sign. The stone hit the lopsided sign with a satisfying clack. Sonic recoiled and rubbed his shoulder, realizing one of the muscles in it was pulled. He noticed the rock took some of the red paint off. The blue hedgehog found this to be good stress relief and picked up another. As he was doing so, he heard a sigh behind him and footsteps approaching.

"Do you want to attract more of those demons?" Shadow warned, swiping the rock from Sonic's hand the moment he stretched it back to throw it. Sonic whipped his head around to see his fellow hedgehog throw it to the ground.

"If it means me being able to punch something, then by all means!" Sonic picked the same rock back up and positioned himself to throw it again. Shadow grabbed his arm and twisted it around his back, forcing Sonic to drop it.

"OW! Ow! Ow ow ow ow..." he whined in pain. The black hedgehog leaned in to look at Sonic's eyes, only to see them squeezed shut from discomfort.

"I'll be the one doing the punching if you don't control yourself," he chided in a low voice, making him appear to have dominance and authority over Sonic. He let go of the arm. Sonic jumped back from Shadow and started rubbing it immediately.

"Okay, okay, geez," complied the blue hero and continued to massage his sore arm. Shadow pulled the radio back out and turned the volume back up. He walked off to continue twisting the dials and changing channels. He was attempting to pick up a line with fellow GUN soldiers on them. All he kept hearing was static.

Sonic didn't necessarily _like_ working with Shadow, but he didn't have much to say on the matter. He was helping him to try to find Tails and is attempting to get him and Knuckles to safety. That didn't really mean that Shadow saw them as friends though. He was only doing it because he knew Sonic for a long time. Both of them felt the obligation to do something about the new monster epidemic, but in different ways. Sonic was always the one to save the day because cared so much about the ground he ran on and the people around him. He was practically a celebrity, what with him always stopping every villain that reared their ugly head. Shadow, however, felt obligated to protect the things around him for his job. GUN was made to protect the public with no emotional strings attached. He did promise someone dear to him many years ago that he would protect Mobius and its people, but that person was long since dead. Shadow was now only doing what he felt was right. He thought he could clear his name and end the infamy. He also believed that having Sonic with him might help him with that. That didn't mean he was going to have a good time doing it.

After what felt like forever to the more impatient one of the two hedgehogs, Shadow lowered the volume and let his hand fall to his side. Sonic was nervously pacing around the GUN van and stopped when he noticed this.

"Nothing?" Sonic asked. Shadow didn't look to him; he only looked to the ground.

Sonic interlaced his fingers and stretched his arms toward the ground.

"What now?"

The black hedgehog recomposed himself before walking to the van's driver-side door. He opened it, plugged the radio in a charger, and placed it in an empty cup-holder. He rested one hand on the handle of the door and another on his hip.

Shadow looked off into the distance at something Sonic couldn't see while saying, "We wait for Knuckles to get back. He's supposed to report back here anyway."

"Yeah," Sonic scoffed, "If the Knucklehead even remembers..."

"You don't give him enough credit," Shadow responded, "He's been far less reckless than you have been."

Sonic became conscious of the bandage on his face. He knew about all his faults already. He is reckless, arrogant, and even a bit selfish. He didn't feel like that got in the way of finding his friends so it didn't concern him too much. Also, Knuckles and Shadow are the first two that would judge him for every mistake. _It's not like they're any better_ , Sonic mused. They probably just yelled at Sonic because it somehow made them feel better about themselves.

Sonic protested, "At least I'm not as touchy as a land mine."

Shadow rubbed his forehead with discontent.

"This is useless squabbling," he commented, "All I ask is for you to cooperate."

Sonic crossed his arms at this.

"Cooperation ain't all one sided, Shad."

Right after he said that, the walkie-talkie in the car violently fizzed and crackled. Both of them were transfixed on it. Shadow quickly reached in and unplugged it. He turned the volume up and held it out between Sonic and himself so both of them could hear. The fizzing continued for a short moment until the remnant of an order came through.

"-held them back for a while... requesting prese-...-oleana...-adow the Hedgehog, Unit 113 imme-"

The message was short, but understood.

"You heard them too, right?" Sonic uttered. Shadow gave a stern nod.

"Soleanna. That's our next stop. As soon as Knuckles gets back, we're leaving."

Sonic was agape, entirely astonished.

"But what about Tails?" he implored, becoming uneasy. Shadow kept the volume up and plugged the radio back into its charger.

"He's probably dead by now, Sonic," he said heartlessly, "Staying here would be counterproductive."

Sonic stomped with emotional intensity, "But he _can't_ be dead!" This caused Shadow to turn to him.

"I _know_ he's not dead! We just have to look a little longer!"

"We don't have time," Shadow emphasized, "I have orders to leave."

"You can't do this to me, man!"

"I very much can whether you like it or not!"

"I'll do anything if it means finding him! I can't leave without knowing he's okay!"

"Then _stay_! See if I care!"

Shadow put on foot on the van and held the door with the other. He was planning to climb inside and leave Sonic behind. He sat on the seat and fumbled with the keys before finding the right one for ignition.

"Fine! I will stay! I didn't need _your_ help anyway!"

Shadow entered the keys into the ignition, but looked ahead of him outside the driver's window. He froze for a moment and lowered his brow. He looked vaguely confused. Sonic examined him, almost just as confused, and then Shadow took the key out and got out of the car. Sonic stepped out of his way and followed where he went with his eyes. He was walking to the front of the van.

"Shadow?" Sonic called out to him, wondering what he was doing. Sonic looked ahead to where he was walking to see a red echidna walking towards them in the distance. He was just emerging from the city.

But Sonic was more stunned to see who he was carrying. A twin-tailed fox. And he was covered in bandages.

Sonic's heart sped up so quick that he was almost caught off guard by it. He swallowed hard in an attempt to control it, but he couldn't help himself for long. He stumbled forward, almost tripping, in an attempt to run over to his approaching friends. He dashed right by Shadow and picked up speed rapidly. They were such a far distance away from them, at least 300 meters away. With speeds like Sonic's, he was able to make it there in a few seconds. Right before he collided with them, he dug his right foot in the ground. The skid on the asphalt sent up sparks. Knuckles stopped in front of him, cradling Tails securely in his arms.

"He's alright Sonic, don't worry." Although, the echidna was more concerned about seeing him there in the first place. Last he knew, he was supposed to still be looking for Tails at his house. But Knuckles didn't have the time to ask.

The moment Sonic regained himself, he reached both arms out to Tails while walking toward him. One hand lay on Tails' chest and the other on his outer shoulder. He gave him a little shake and searched eye contact with him.

"Tails! Tails, talk to me!"

The young fox lifted his head and looked right at Sonic. His blue eyes lit up when he saw Sonic's face.

"...Sonic?"

He couldn't believe it. Tails was alive. Not only that, but he was found. Sonic felt so much weight lift off of his shoulders.

"Heh..." he reluctantly said, "Yeah, it's me."

The fox looked in his eyes, slightly dazed from exhaustion. The blue hedgehog waited for him to continue with anticipation.

"...you look terrible..."

He gave a toothy grin. He even was able to let out a short chuckle.

"Yeah," Sonic replied, "You look like crap, too."

At that point, Tails couldn't help but smile as well. His bushy tails swished back and forth with contentment. Sonic took a better look at the rest of his injuries and noticed a heavy bulk of bandages around his right ankle. Sonic looked up to Knuckles, who was turned away from them shyly.

"You found him?"

Knuckles only glanced at his face briefly before giving his answer.

"Yup."

At that, Sonic put an arm around the echidna's neck and the other hand on the crown of Tails' head. He pulled them both into a tight embrace. Sonic closed his eyes shut, savoring the closeness. Knuckles shifted uncomfortably while still holding his fox friend. Tails, however, lifted a weak arm to hug Sonic back. In reality, the hug only lasted a few seconds. That didn't stop Sonic from cherishing every moment of it. Finally, his best friends were out of harm's way. If only he could find the others. But for a few seconds there, Sonic felt like everything was okay.

"Okay, we can stop now," Knuckles said. He patted Sonic on the arm, admitting he's had enough.

The hedgehog removed himself from his two friends and stood up straight. He took a step back and placed one of his hands on his sweaty forehead. He closed his eyes and smiled to himself. The muscles in his face relaxed.

Quick, clunky footsteps were heard behind Sonic. Tails leaned his head a little to look past him and see what was approaching them. It was Shadow jogging up to them without using the rockets in his shoes. He stopped next to Sonic. He only gave a quick glance to him and Knuckles before addressing Tails.

"Miles Prower..." he started, almost like he was going to finish with something else. But whatever thought he had wasn't said aloud. He had a look of bewilderment on his face. Yet, the black hedgehog was quick to switch the expression back to his normal scowl.

"But the blood. How are you alive?" he inquired suspiciously. The fox looked at Shadow, then to his surroundings to try and recollect his thoughts.

"Uhh... blood?" Tails tried to think back. He thought that Shadow was referring to his destroyed house where he woke up.

Tails continued with, "...I was passed out at my house for a while before I came to. Is that what you're talking about?"

"Yes, but _how long_ were you passed out?" pressured Shadow. Tails hadn't the faintest idea how long he was unconscious. He could barely remember what he was even doing the day prior. Tails opened his mouth as if to say something else, but paused and answered instead with "I'm not certain." That seemed to make Shadow more irritated.

"What about your house? How was it destroyed?"

It was at that point that Sonic decided to intervene.

"Shad, cool it. He's alive and that's all we need to know."

Shadow switched the receiving end of his frustration to Sonic.

"Maybe that's all _you_ need, but _I_ need this information for reports back to HQ."

"Well can your reports wait until Tails _isn't_ about to pass out?

Shadow took the time to look Tails over more properly. He was in pretty bad shape. Shadow concluded in his mind that the rescue reports _could_ actually wait. He would rather ask after the fox was more well rested.

"Fair enough," he finished then turned around and briskly walked away from them, "Everyone back to the van."

Knuckles re-shifted Tails in his arms and began walking. Sonic followed alongside them. The young fox was still thoroughly confused what was even happening in the first place. He looked at Sonic, who was trailing along Knuckles' right side. He was going to ask him something until Sonic turned his head to him. He turned it just enough for Tails to see one of his pupils. Then he gave him a subtle nod. Tails knew what he meant.

That one nod was Sonic's non-verbal way of saying, "I got your back."

But that would mean that he was reassuring his friend of the very thing he already knows.

All of the animals filed into the van. Shadow went to take his place in the driver's seat as usual and the other three went into the back. The door connecting both compartments of the van was still open, so both sides could talk to each other while still being able to be heard.

"So what's the plan now, Shadow?" the red echidna asked first while still holding Tails, who was thankful he asked this question. Shadow was starting the van up and double checking to make sure the walkie-talkie was still plugged in. Knuckles only waited for a few seconds before Sonic responded instead.

"One of his GUN buddies said that they needed him in Soleanna. So that's where we're heading."

"Soleanna?!" Knuckles raised his voice slightly, astonished, "How many of these things are there?!"

Tails' feelings were mutual to Knuckles'. He tried to go about it in a more rational way though. And the only way to do that was to ask more questions.

So Tails started with, "Do you even know what these creatures are?" Sonic shook his head.

"Not in the slightest."

Everyone within earshot was discouraged by that fact. Even Shadow felt slightly uneasy. Something about not knowing what your enemy is brings a feeling of helplessness to him. Yet, it wasn't enough to throw off the black hedgehog's will _too_ much. He had a job to do. The sooner he got it done, the sooner he wouldn't have to deal with any of this.

Shadow put an arm on the back of the seat and twisted his body around to face all of them.

"Regardless of what we're fighting," he explained with authority, "we need to defend Mobius at all costs. I'm sure you agree with me, Sonic?"

As much as Sonic didn't want to admit it, he agreed to what Shadow was saying. Whatever creatures now roamed this planet, they were hurting the people who inhabited it. Those people included his closest friends. He wouldn't stand for it and that was something the black and blue hedgehog could actually agree on. With this reasoning, Sonic confidently said, "You got that right." Shadow reached an arm out and grabbed one of the handles on the compartment door to pull it shut. The other three remained there in solitude.

"How you feeling, buddy?" Sonic said a moment after. From the nickname he used, Tails knew that Sonic was talking about him. Tails fidgeted with his shoe while answering, "I'm okay. I just need some sleep." Knuckles looked to the metal bench that hung off of the wall by two chains. He turned toward it and gently laid his friend there. Tails' tiny body was able to fit horizontally across the bench with some room left to spare. Tails slightly shivered on contact.

"Ugh, it's cold!" he complained. Thankfully, he was able to wrap his two tails around himself to compensate. Knuckles felt bad that this was the only way for Tails to rest. There was no other option though than the floor.

"Sorry, Tails," was all Knuckles could say to him. It was better than nothing in his opinion. They all felt the van start moving forward. Sonic walked over to them and leaned in to Tails.

"Are you kidding?" he joked, "This very bench was rated five stars on Yelp!"

Tails softly smiled. He was glad that Sonic was there to lighten the mood. Usually, Knuckles would be annoyed by Sonic making jokes at such a serious time. This time was different because this meant the blue hedgehog was finally acting more like himself. It was just plain upsetting to see Sonic the way he was before. It was better this way. Sonic let out a little laugh before acting more serious.

"Yeah... I know it stinks, pal," he comforted, "But it's all we got." The twin-tailed fox turned on his side and used his tails as a blanket. He knew that they didn't have much else to offer. He didn't really care though, since this was paradise compared to the predicament he was in beforehand. The warmth in his chest evinced the overwhelming gratitude he had for all of them. Tails wanted to talk about so much more, but he felt himself drifting off despite the discomfort of his temporary bed.

"Now that I think about it," Knuckles piped up, "The sun is going down. All of us might as well get some shut-eye."

Sonic rolled his eyes, "Okay, mom." The red echidna shot a glare at him, temper spiking fast.

"Or you can stay up all night after an entire day of chaos!" he retorted, plopping down on the floor and leaning against the metal wall, "I don't care either way!" Sonic sat down on the floor as well.

"It was a joke, Knux, geez..." Knuckles crossed his arms and tilted his head away from the other two. Sonic put his hands behind his head and crossed his legs.

The sun was sinking lower in the sky. The darker it got, the more road that was put behind them. Shadow didn't come charging in with any more bad news, the monsters' growls couldn't be heard, and there was no immediate threat to worry about. Finally, all of them could rest, even if it was for only a few measly hours.

Shadow, however, had no such good fortune. He had to stay awake for the many hours of the trip that was ahead of him. It's not like he could sleep with so many questions burning in his mind anyway.


	8. Travel

**Author's Note:**

 **THIS IS GOING TO BE REWRITTEN INTO A MORE PLANNED OUT STORY. STAY TUNED FOR UPDATES. I am uploading the rest of what I wrote for entertainment purposes while I work on the new version**

* * *

 **Chapter 8: Travel**

* * *

Tails' soft breathing coupled with the hum of the engine was almost enough to lull Sonic back to sleep. But it was a new day. The sunlight barely peeking into the van's windows was enough evidence for that.

Knuckles woke up before Sonic did. He passed his time by taking off the bandages he didn't need any more and organizing them in a messy pile in the corner. When Sonic woke up shortly after, he was disgusted to see crusty, brown gauze all piled up in one place.

"Ew," he sneered, "You're gonna get someone sick."

The red echidna gestured around the van, "Do you see in a trash can anywhere?"

"Just because you can't see it, it doesn't mean we don't got one, Knucklehead," Sonic chided, "Shad's got it. That's where I threw mine away."

Knuckles got on two feet to face Sonic. He stood in a threatening stance, as if he was ready to fight him then and there.

"Then why didn't you tell me?!" he exclaimed and stomped over to the compartment door and threw it open. Shadow was already holding the large, black trash bag out to Knuckles.

"Just take it and stop making so much noise," the black hedgehog gruffly commanded. Knuckles was taken aback for a moment then snatched the bag out of his hand and slammed the door. Sonic held back a giggle, "Whew, I was starting to miss that temper of yours."

Knuckles went straight to the pile and started stuffing the dirty bandages in it. Sonic always knew how to push Knuckles' buttons, but it's basically what their friendship revolved around. If Sonic's not trying to find ways to rile his echidna friend up, then there must be something wrong. Both of them knew this to a degree.

All of the noise that Knuckles was making made Tails shift slightly on the metal bench. He was the only one who wasn't awake yet. The blue hedgehog took notice of this and walked over to the bench to sit to the right of him where Tails' feet were. There was still one foot absent of the shoe due to the injury. That shoe lay on the floor. Sonic assumed that the fox must have lost grip of it in the middle of the night.

Knuckles plopped the bag down on the floor. The weight of the bag caused its contact to the floor to make a loud noise. The young fox shifted slightly again. This time, he positioned his tails over his face as if to block out the noise. His blue friend saw this and spoke softly to Knuckles.

"Hey, Tails is trying to sleep. Cool it."

The echidna looked at the sleeping fox and reconsidered his actions. _Well if maybe you didn't piss me off, I wouldn't have been making so much noise!_ he thought to himself. Knuckles didn't want to argue further because he knew doing so would wake Tails up. He sat down on the floor again and allowed himself to blow off the rest of his steam.

Sonic looked to Tails' bare foot. He was concerned as to why there were so many bandages in the first place. He turned to Knuckles, tempted to bring up all of what happened. He didn't think it too much about how he would bring it up to his hot-tempered friend.

"…Knux…" Sonic used one of his hands to scratch his ears. Knuckles' foot wiggled up and down impatiently. The hedgehog dared to continue, "...Tell me a story." Knuckles groaned, still faced away from Sonic, "Are you kidding me?" Sonic leaned forward and grabbed the toes of his shoes with his hands. "Yeah, I'm bored!"

"Tough," Knuckles gruffly said. Sonic rocked back and forth and the bench, "Pretty please?"

Knuckles puffed angrily and replied, "Will it shut you up if I do?"

"Maaaybe…" Sonic teased coyly. The red echidna just rolled his eyes and turned his slightly toward where Sonic was sitting.

"Whadaya want to hear then?" Knuckles was surprised he was even doing his, but he didn't want to hear Sonic talking any more. But he changed his mind the moment he heard what Sonic had to say next.

"Tell me how you found Tails."

The red echidna squinted in the darkness and then rolled his body toward his blue friend.

"Why didn't you just ask?"

"'Cuz I love bugging the heck outta you."

Knuckles swung himself up and crossed his legs. He placed his gloved hands on his knees.

"Are you sure you want to hear this?"

Sonic was put slightly on edge due to the way Knuckles said it.

"I'm sure I can manage."

Knuckles looked to the floor and exhaled. After another breath in, he began his story.

"I found Tails in pretty bad shape. I heard a struggle from one of the other streets. When I got there, there was one of those monsters on top of Tails. Tails was trying to fight it off, but he wasn't doing so well."

"What did it look like?" Sonic interrupted, "Was it one of the tall ones?"

"No, it was nothing like the monsters we've seen so far. It walked on four and looked kind of like a lion or a wolf or something… I knocked it off of Tails, but it didn't disappear right away like the others. Tails was out cold, so I tried to finish it off. But _man,_ this one was _strong._ I was barely able to fend it off until it ran away… That thing was _insane._ "

Knuckles paused and shook his head. It worried him that there are even more types of those monsters out there, and some more dangerous than others.

"And?" Sonic urged him. The red echidna continued.

"And I took Tails to this broken fire hydrant that I saw. I started wrapping some of his wounds before he came to. I gave him some water and we talked for a little bit. He said that he's been out there for a while."

"How long?"

"All day. Just by himself, roaming the streets. He told me that he only saw one other person, and they were killed by the same monster that attacked him."

Sonic looked unsettled, yet concentrated as he rested his arms on his knees and hands folded together and over his mouth. Knuckles settled his eyes on Tails' sleeping form while saying the following:

"I had no idea how he even survived against that thing. You should've _seen_ it. Talk about scary."

The blue hero nodded, taking all the information in. He tried not to get too upset about it. I suppose it was easier to take because Tails was right next to him, recovering. Even so, Sonic still had questions popping everywhere in his mind.

"Well Tails said he didn't know how long he was knocked out, right? Or how his house was burnt down?" Sonic asked, trying to recall the conversation they had yesterday.

"He didn't tell me anything."

"What about his ankle?"

"He told me that he woke up with it sprained. He was under a bunch of rubble too."

"Rubble…"

Sonic scratched his chin and narrowed his eyes, looking off to the distance in thought.

"Back at the house, Shadow and I found blood in the garage next to the Tornado. Like, a _lot._ "

Sonic turned to his twin-tailed friend. The look in his eyes was that of worry.

"I was just as surprised as Shadow was, seeing him alive…"

Knuckles observed Sonic, noticing he was acting the same way he did before they found Tails: apprehensive and protective.

"He's going to be so upset, what with the Tornado busted up again. He just gave her some upgrades, too. He even fixed that weird sound in the engine. Man, he was so happy with what he did. He even invited over to his place to show me. Now all that work… wasted… He doesn't even have a place to rebuild it; not even a bed to sleep in."

Sonic put his head in one of his hands, still looking at Tails.

"Where is he going to live? How is he going to keep up with college homework?"

Knuckles pondered what Sonic was saying. Sonic and Tails have been friends for such a long time. The duo was even friends when Knuckles met them. Of course, Sonic would be the one to let the misfortune of others get to him. It's not like the red echidna didn't feel bad, he just took it better than his blue companion did.

"Well, Sonic…" Knuckles began, "Like you said: he's alive and that's all that matters."

"I said that's all we needed to know," Sonic replied, looking Knuckles in the eye, "Not all that mattered."

Knuckles shrugged, hands still resting on his knees. There was a moment of silence between them. All that filled the silence was Tails' breathing and the movement of the van.

"…But you have a point."

Knuckles perked up. He expected to hear more, but Sonic fell silent afterwards. Instead, the cobalt hedgehog leaned forward from the bench to pick up Tails' tiny shoe. He then slouched back. All of his weight was supported by the cool, metal wall while he flipped and turned the shoe around to observe it. There wasn't going to be much else to do on this long ride to Soleanna. Sonic hated being cooped up in one place for too long, so he knew he needed to distract himself somehow. He would talk more, but if it was about Tails he knew he would only get more upset. He took notice that Tails' shoe was slightly smaller than his own. He reminisced the time when he found Tails' burnt and torn glove in the remains of his house. The only difference between now and before was the item he was observing and where Tails was at the time. He considered what Knuckles said. 'He's alive and that's all that matters.' There was some truth spoken, but he couldn't help but be worried about the other aspects of Tails' being. Emotionally, his fox friend might not be doing so well. Sonic didn't know since the person in question was currently asleep.

"…On that note…"

Knuckles stood up in front of Sonic

* * *

 **IT CUTS OFF HERE BECAUSE THIS IS WHEN I STARTED TO MAKE THE NEW VERSION. Tell me what you like/didn't like about it and I'll see if I can incorporate it into the new, more refined, and more awesome version of Number 8. Thank you for the reviews I got so far and you can see updates on my account " _Blazerona"_ on DeviantART as well as concept art and other Sonic fan art! Thanks, guys and keep an eye out for the remake!**


End file.
